1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to automatic breadmaking machines and, more particularly, to breadmaking machines especially adapted for home use for automatically carrying out a sequence of steps in a breadmaking process including mixing of the ingredients to form a dough, leavening and kneading the dough and baking the leavened dough to form the bread, all in the same mixing and baking mold.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Baking bread in the home has in the past been largely a manual operation although various devices such as mixers, kneaders, and the like have been available for use in performing specific steps in the process. More recently, automatic breadmaking devices have been developed and are commercially available, making it possible to produce a high quality bread which is baked at a preselected time, with the only manual steps required being measuring the raw ingredients and depositing them in the machine and programming the controls for automatically completing the process and baking the bread at the desired time.
The various steps in the process of breadmaking are sensitive both to time and temperature and many factors can influence the process so that bread produced in the known automatic breadmaking devices has not always been consistent in color, texture, or other characteristics. Further, in the known automatic breadmaking devices, it has not generally been possible to visually monitor the process once it has commenced since opening or removal of the closed top could disrupt the time-temperature relationship under control of the process controller. Viewing windows have been provided, but they generally have been relatively small and were not effective in retaining heat in the baking chamber.
In the prior art automatic breadmaking devices commercially available, temperature of the materials in the mold generally is monitored by a temperature sensor maintained in pressure contact with the external surface of the mold within the enclosed baking chamber where the temperature sensor may be influenced by radiant heat from the heating element also contained within the chamber.
The known automatic breadmaking devices also generally provide for ventilation of the baking chamber, including forced ventilation during certain steps of the process, but the known ventilation systems have not always worked entirely satisfactorily either for evacuation of released fermentation gases from the chamber or for circulation of cooling air throughout the chamber to uniformly cool dough in the mold as upon excessive heat buildup during kneading or to recirculate heated air for more rapid warming or to produce an enhanced convection heating effect. Further, the known ventilation systems generally have not been effective either in cooling the external housing or in removing vapors and gas from areas of the housing outside the baking chamber.